65 – Meet Goliath (You Will Meet Him Again In The End Of Days)

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

We’ve now been introduced to David. It is time to meet Goliath; the problem David will face in his very first battle which will launch his career as the next King of Israel. We’ll also take a look at the Valley of Elah for its prophetic meaning.

This battle constitutes a huge showdown between Israel and the Philistines. It was brought on by Saul’s impatience and disobedience in engaging the Philistines during his ordination week without being commanded to by YHVH. Now, Israel stands to lose everything.

This story is most often portrayed as a battle between good and evil or as an allegory of the world’s system against God’s people. While these are worthy interpretations, there are prophetic implications in this account because Goliath is an actual end times and prophetic champion, not just a system, and the Valley of Elah will become a real “between a rock and a hard place” situation at the end of days.

The dynamics happening within ancient Israel is also prophetic of the end of days. There were two Israels that existed in the time of Saul and David just as there are two Israels that exist today. Ancient Israel was divided between the religious-minded and the Kingdom-minded just exists today. Saul represents the religious mind that acknowledges the God of Israel but not His Kingship. The religious mind also has no problem mixing worship of YHVH with worship of other gods.

David, however, represents the Kingdom and the Kingdom-minded remnant who refuse to bow the knee to any other god and who know that YHVH is Israel’s King. The remnant always looks to the Torah, the Word given from Heaven on how to please our God and King and to express our faith, love, loyalty and gratitude for our salvation which only comes from YHVH.

This means the battle had 2 fronts. First, of course, there was the obvious external enemy, the Philistines. Secondly, there was a hidden front bubbling from within Israel, an internal spiritual war between the apostate Israelites and the righteous remnant. Israel is in the same spiritual condition today. There are the apostate religious folks who seek to do their own thing, wanting salvation without the need to express their relationship with Heaven through obedience to Heaven’s laws. And then there is the righteous remnant who understand that obedience to the Law of YHVH is our expression of love and loyalty to Him. Internal fighting always causes complications and chaos and when you have this kind of situation while facing an external enemy, you don’t always know who your friend is or who is your foe.

Before we get to Goliath, we must recognize the Valley of Elah as a future prophecy and the setting for an upcoming spiritual battle as well as a physical one, not just a historical past event. It was Israel’s “rock and a hard place” situation and will be our end times “rock and a hard place”, too. But don’t worry. YHVH used David, the as yet unknown Messiah of Israel, to save Israel. He will bring Yeshua, our Messiah, to save us again at the end.  

Now, let’s look at the Valley of Elah, the place that was the “between a rock and hard place” in Israel where the showdown happened.

1 Samuel 17:1  Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 

“The Philistines gathered together their armies”, plural. The two Philistine armies came from Gath and Ekron to amass against Israel. The same will happen to Israel as the nations will ally against her in the end of days. This invading force had come from the sea coast, the Gaza strip, and had advanced all the way into the plain of Judah’s territory, so close that they were about to enter and conquer the mountains of Judah. The only thing stopping them was the Valley of Elah. They had to take the valley but Israel was stopping them. But Israel was not able to engage in battle. She was only holding her ground. That’s all she could do.

So here they were in this showdown facing the invaders who were camped between Socoh and Azekah in a place called Ephes-dammim, which means ‘boundary of bloodshed’ (Strong’s H658). This was a mountain with a field overlooking the valley where barley was grown, and it was a place where there had been much bloodshed. David would meet the Philistines here later, as well, according to 1 Chronicles 11:13. It is referred to as “Pas-Dammim”. No one knows how this spot got its name but the conjecture is that the name may have come from the dark red color of the soil but it is more likely the place was named from all the bloodshed between the Philistines and Israelites at this very spot.

Ephes-dammim lay in the “Shephelah of Judah” region, a 10–15 mile wide and 35–40-mile-long transitional geographic region of rolling limestone hills in south-central Israel. It was a vital strategic buffer zone separating the Coastal Plain of the Philistines to the west from the Judean hills to the east. This place is a prophetic hint for us at the end of days when the battle will involve a great amount of Israel’s bloodshed both for apostate Israel and Biblical Israel.

1 Samuel 17:2  Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 

Scripture says Saul had positioned the army in the valley. This placement put them between 2 mountains. The Valley of Elah ran east and west and there were 2 mountains, 1 on either side. This frames the “between a rock and a hard place” expression. The mountain on the south side of the valley, on the mountain where the Philistines were camped is unnamed in scripture and so is the mountain on the north side. But archeologists say an ancient stronghold names Khirbet-Qeiyafa, though not specifically mentioned in scripture, was the place where the Israelite army was. The name means either “place of ruin” or “place with a wide view”. However, that would have put the army on a mountain and not in the valley as scripture says. We’ll go with what scripture says: Israel was camped – that’s the operative word – in the Valley of Elah.

1 Samuel 17:3  The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 

I just said Israel camped in the valley, not on the mountain to the north. It makes strategic sense that Israel camped in order to stop the Philistines’ progress through the valley. But the Israelites army had men standing watch on the mountain. Thus, there was always a lookout, day and night, to warn the army if the Philistines decided to rush in. In this case, the battle would have been waged on the valley floor.

1 Samuel 17:4  A champion went out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 

Goliath may have been a descendant of the Rephaim from the tribe called the Anakim but it is not clear in scripture if he was this or that he simply was a rather large man. Let me explain.

Joshua 11:21–22 tells us that some of the surviving Anakim took refuge among the Philistines.

Joshua 11:21  Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel: Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
Joshua 11:22  There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain. 

The surviving Anakim from the war with Joshua had been fled Canaan but they were among those who YHVH chose to train and test Israel.

Judges 3:1  Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
Judges 3:2  only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before:
Judges 3:3  the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
Judges 3:4  They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to Yahweh’s commandments, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. 

1 Samuel 17 does not call Goliath a “giant”. That understanding comes from a later battle between David and the Philistines in which the word “giant” or “rapha” was mentioned.

2 Samuel 21:15  The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint;
2 Samuel 21:16  and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David.

The word for “giant” is:

H7498
רָפָה    רָפָא
râphâ’    râphâh
raw-faw’, raw-faw’

Probably the same as H7497; giant; Rapha or Raphah, the name of two Israelites: – Rapha.

The plural form of ‘Rapha’ is ‘Rephaim”. So, was Goliath a giant, a descendant of the Anakim, or just a very large man? That depends on which Bible version you read. The Masoretic text, the King James and other later versions of the Bible, records Goliath’s height as “six cubits and a span” or 9 ft 9 in. The Septuagint and Josephus (in Antiquities 6.171) describe Goliath as four cubits and a span or roughly 6 ft 6 in. This indicates a very tall man but not a giant. His size is less important than what he represented, which was a seemingly unbeatable champion.

Why is there such a discrepancy between the Septuagint and Masoretic texts? Some theories about this include a scribal copying error in that the number “six” from verse 7 was mistakenly copied into verse 4. Verse 7 says Goliath’s spearhead weighed 600 shekels. It is thought that incorrect movement of the scribe’s eyes may be at fault.

Another theory has to do with the 3 different cubits in use at the time: the ancient cubit, the long or royal cubit and the short cubit. The ancient cubit measured between 17.5 and 21 inches based on a man’s forearm length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. The long/royal cubit’s measure was about 20.67 inches. The short or common cubit was about 17.5–18 inches. These measurements are not exactly the way we use measurements today. Buildings were based on the lengths of the builders’ arms. The claim is the Temple it was built using the standardized, traditional measure known as the “first measure”, “old standard” or “ancient cubit”. However, we know this was not an exact measurement and it wouldn’t surprise me if the measurement was based on King Solomon’s arm length though scholars claim this is not so.

1 Samuel 17:5  He [Goliath] had a helmet of brass on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 

To convert shekel weight to US pounds, we multiply the shekels times .025. 5,000 x .025 = 125 lbs. This was the additional weight he carried on his already very large body.

1 Samuel 17:6  He had brass shin armor on his legs, and a brass javelin between his shoulders.
1 Samuel 17:7  The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him. 

600 shekels of weight x .025 = 15 pounds.

The amount of armor worn and wielded by Goliath was told to us by Samuel because a man of this size with this much protection would be impossible to kill through normal fighting methods. Also, Samuel wanted us to be suitably awed by the latest technology had by the Philistines. The only Israelite men with armor were Saul and Jonathan.

The war tech of their time is nothing to us today. We must put ourselves in Israel’s place and then envision our own end of days technology. Then, as now, the effect is in the intimidation of the enemy. We just witnessed some of the world’s latest war tech when the US superpower beast used its latest sonic weapon in Venezuela. It caused bleeding through the nose, vomiting blood, made people disoriented and dizzy and gave them a “head exploding” sensation.

But there is another technology that has recently come on the world scene: AI. Artificial Intelligence. A champion for our times, one that is quickly grabbing control of our world and one which only Yeshua can battle. The intimidation the Israelites felt back then is the same which people feel today and which we will face in literal battle at some time in the future. The AI champion has in mind the same thing as the Philistine champion. Hang on and I will tell you what that is.

1 Samuel 17:8  He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 

Goliath purported the Philistines as superior to the Israelites when he said “am I not a Philistine”? Today’s elites purport themselves as superior to other humans. But the thing that is really being touted as superior is AI.

“And you servants of Saul”… Not servants of the living God, but Saul. This is what the world sees. The Philistines, and even the Israelites, saw Saul. The Philistines dismissed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – YHVH. The Israelites did, too. Everyone believed the battle was between fleshly enemies. But there were some, like David, who saw something else. They saw that Israel does have a God and King on the Heavenly throne and that He is very interested in His creation and His nation of Israel for His own name’s sake!

“Choose a man”… That man should have been Saul but his tyranny did not extend to the Philistines. It is interesting that Goliath didn’t call Saul by name. This was a dismissal of Saul’s power and authority. The enemies of Israel – both the modern UN-created STATE of Israel and Biblical Israel (the believers in Yeshua as God) – won’t care about the power and authority wielded by the son of perdition. No. They have AI, the full-scale slave stealer and maker.

It turns out that Saul was a coward in this showdown even though he had proven himself in many other battles. In this showdown battle, Saul had suddenly become not so brave. But here again, he could have repented and asked for YHVH’s favor. He did not.

1 Samuel 17:9  If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” 

Israel had, until now, been in a quiet arrangement with the Philistines where the Israelites wouldn’t make trouble when the Philistines raided their fields and store houses and the Israelites definitely would not make war with the Philistines and, in return, the Philistines would let them live. That had ended when Samson pulled down the building on all the Philistines’ elites. There had been war and small garrisons had occupied Israel all the way into Benjamin’s territory here Saul came from. The garrisons were use by the Philistines to keep Israel in line. Now, Goliath has told Israel the real reason for this battle: it was not to kill them, but for their enslavement.

Here is what the Goliath and the end times AI champion have in common. The Philistines did not want to kill all the Israelites. They simply wanted to use Israel as a slave pool. AI is the end times champion whose job it will be to enslave the whole earth to the beast empire of Revelation 13 so there will be a slave pool for the New World Order elites and the Jews. This will be done through AI propaganda that will deceive people into taking the mark of the beast, the mark that will willingly enslave you to the empire. The empire will own you. But you willingly sign up for that There is a difference between being forced into slavery and marked, and willingly taking slavery on yourself and being marked. The beast can then decide if you live or die and who you become a servant of. Revelation 18:13 tells us that the modern UN-created STATE of Israel aka Mystery Babylon will deal in slaves, i.e. those who have willingly taken the slave mark. The Talmud states that Gentiles will serve the Jews in their “world to come”.  

1 Samuel 17:10  The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”
1 Samuel 17:11  When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
1 Samuel 17:12  Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul.
1 Samuel 17:13  The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
1 Samuel 17:14  David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul.
1 Samuel 17:15  Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
1 Samuel 17:16  The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 

Forty days is a prophetic number. That’s one reason why the account of Goliath and Israel is a prophecy. Forty is the number of years the people of the first exodus wandered in the wilderness after proclaiming that the Israelites could not take Promised Land. Everything Israel has suffered stems from that first generation’s sins – the golden calf, the complaining about food and water, the worship of other gods while wandering in the wilderness and rejecting YHVH’s royal land grant which He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now, here the world sits on the precipice of the second and greater exodus where the powers and authorities of the world are about to enslave Israel. It is Israel they want. They already have everyone else. But those who keep the commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua are keeping them from ruling the world from Jerusalem.

Goliath appeared just as Israel’s Messianic age was beginning. His appearance signaled the process of ending Saul and starting David’s reign. Interestingly, AI – a champion no one could have imagined just a few years ago – has appeared as we approach the rise of the end times son of perdition which will be followed by the Messianic age under Yeshua. Mankind is the prize for Satan who wants to enslave mankind, change man’s image to his own through the mark of the beast, to deprive YHVH of His great creation – man – who bears His image before destroying mankind.

We are so blessed to be alive to witness what YHVH is doing in these days! We are where the prophets who prophesied about this wanted to be! Let us continue to draw close to our God and Savior, YHVH, and be in His perfect will. Rest assured that YHVH will keep us in His image and will deliver us to His Kingdom.